Public Policy

  • January 28, 2026

    Rubio Says There's No Plan For Military Action In Venezuela

    Secretary of State Marco Rubio told lawmakers on Wednesday that future military action is not off the table in Venezuela but that the Trump administration has no intention to take such action at this time, while laying out plans to "normalize" the country's oil industry.

  • January 28, 2026

    Senators Question If FirstNet, AT&T Need More Oversight

    A U.S. Senate panel Wednesday examined calls to reform the national first responder network and to rework AT&T's 25-year exclusive contract to provide network coverage for emergency personnel across the country.

  • January 28, 2026

    Tobey Maguire Says He Rerouted Fee To Goldstein

    "Spider-Man" star Tobey Maguire told the jury Wednesday in Thomas Goldstein's tax fraud trial that he paid $500,000 for his legal services to another poker player the former SCOTUSblog founder owed money to, rather than Goldstein's law firm.

  • January 28, 2026

    Schools Want To Appeal Financial Aid-Fixing Antitrust Case

    The five private universities that have yet to settle with students over the alleged fixing of financial aid offerings are asking an Illinois federal court for permission to immediately appeal a ruling that sets the case up for trial.

  • January 28, 2026

    Sanctions Motion Allowed In Barratry Suit, Texas Court Says

    A Texas appeals court has kept intact a motion for sanctions against a man who accused a law firm of barratry, saying Wednesday the motion was based on "ancillary conduct" and therefore not subject to the state's anti-SLAPP law.

  • January 28, 2026

    Trump Announces Pick For New Assistant AG For Fraud Role

    President Donald Trump announced Wednesday evening that he would be nominating Colin McDonald, associate deputy attorney general, for the newly created assistant attorney general for fraud role.

  • January 28, 2026

    FCC Sees Dead People On Lifeline, But Dems Balk At New Reg

    Democrats are bristling against a plan by the Federal Communications Commission to reduce purported fraud in the Lifeline program, where the agency says some states enrolled dead people and others who don't qualify.

  • January 28, 2026

    Enbridge Looks To Keep Pipeline Open Amid 7th Circ. Appeal

    Enbridge Energy Inc. is looking to pause a shutdown order of a segment of its Line 5 pipeline that runs through Wisconsin tribal lands pending its Seventh Circuit appeal, arguing to a Wisconsin district court that a cutoff would cause disproportionate economic harm and energy shortages.

  • January 28, 2026

    Jail Officers, Doctor Seek Exit From Excessive Force Suit

    A medical provider for correctional facilities, a physician and two jail officers told a Georgia federal court they should not face a lawsuit seeking to hold them liable for a former sheriff's excessive force, pointing to a two-year statute of limitations.

  • January 28, 2026

    Biden Official Says Congress Should Reassert Trade Control

    Congress should look to take back some of the U.S. trade policymaking reins from President Donald Trump this year to establish appropriate oversight of such measures, a former official under former President Joe Biden said Wednesday.

  • January 28, 2026

    New Squires Order Allows 4 Patent Reviews, Denies 25 Others

    U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Director John Squires instituted four America Invents Act patent challenges while denying 25 others in his most recent summary decision.

  • January 28, 2026

    Social Media Addiction Laws Eyed By Conn. Governor, AG

    Connecticut lawmakers will consider forcing social media companies to display mental health warning labels and file state reports detailing the numbers of youth users, parental consent figures and average daily screen time statistics, Gov. Ned Lamont and Attorney General William M. Tong said in a Wednesday statement.

  • January 28, 2026

    SEC Urged To Adopt Insider Trading Rules For Foreign Firms

    A former member of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is among a trio of academics pressing the agency to write rules cracking down on insider trading at foreign companies that trade on U.S. exchanges, urging action before a congressionally mandated deadline runs out in March.

  • January 28, 2026

    Casino License Revocation Order Off The Mark, 8th Circ. Told

    Two Cherokee Nation entities say an Arkansas federal court "struck out on its own" when it dismissed claims over the revocation of an Arkansas-issued gambling license, telling the Eighth Circuit that the decision sets a dangerous precedent that will haunt the state as it seeks multimillion-dollar investors.

  • January 28, 2026

    FBI Raids Fulton County Election Office

    The FBI raided Fulton County, Georgia's election operations center Wednesday, a move that comes amid efforts by the federal government to find evidence to support President Donald Trump's assertion that widespread voter fraud led to his loss in the 2020 election.

  • January 28, 2026

    EPA Begins Rollback Of Biden-Era Smog Control Plan

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has proposed to reapprove pollution control plans from several states as part of its effort to undo a Biden-era rule curbing cross-border smog formation that was halted by the U.S. Supreme Court.

  • January 28, 2026

    Only 2 GOP Sens., Tillis and Murkowski, Call For Noem To Go

    A day after two Senate Republicans have called for the removal of Kristi Noem from her post as secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in the aftermath of the second deadly shooting this month by immigration agents in Minneapolis, no other Republicans have joined them.

  • January 28, 2026

    NM Bill Could Shield Medical Cannabis Users From Job Bias

    Democratic lawmakers in New Mexico's Legislature are looking to redefine employment rules for medical cannabis patients to prohibit bosses from taking adverse actions for lawful off-duty use but allow them to restrict use for certain roles or carry out discipline for impairment at work.

  • January 28, 2026

    NJ Justices Revive Woman's Suit Over Parole Conditions

    A woman who was sent to prison for violating allegedly unconstitutional bans on social media and pornography consumption during her lifelong parole for endangering the welfare of a child may proceed with her civil suit, New Jersey's highest court ruled Wednesday in a partial reversal.

  • January 28, 2026

    Federal Judge Blocks USDA's SNAP Pilot Project In Colo.

    A Colorado federal judge issued a preliminary injunction Wednesday preventing the U.S. Department of Agriculture from enforcing a pilot project demanding that the state recertify Supplemental Nutrition Act Program recipients in five counties.

  • January 28, 2026

    Fla. Prosecutors' Detention Defense Met With Sanction Threat

    The U.S. attorney for the Middle District of Florida, Gregory Kehoe, along with an assistant U.S. attorney have been threatened with sanctions by a federal judge for the methods their office used in defending the mandatory detention of noncitizens.

  • January 28, 2026

    Prosecutors Form New Group To Fight Federal Overreach

    Several progressive prosecutors have launched a new group to hold accountable federal officials who "exceed their lawful authority," amid a growing backlash to the Trump administration's immigration crackdown and the recent killing of two protesters by immigration agents in Minneapolis.

  • January 28, 2026

    Advocates Seek Shift To 1st Circ. In Prison Call Rate Cases

    A public interest group, backed by other public interest petitioners, is asking the D.C. Circuit to transfer to the First Circuit the challenges to the Federal Communications Commission's latest prison phone rate order, arguing the court is already deeply familiar with the dispute and best positioned to resolve it.

  • January 28, 2026

    FCC Chair Signals Feb. Vote On 900 MHz Expansion

    Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr said the commission plans to vote next month on an order that would allow broadband deployment across the full 10 megahertz of the 900 MHz band, a move the nation's railroads have said they would support but only with strict safeguards in place.

  • January 28, 2026

    Conn. Justices Question 'Double Recovery' In Asbestos Case

    Several Connecticut Supreme Court justices on Wednesday appeared uneasy with the thought of a mesothelioma patient's estate and widow receiving a "double recovery" from private settlements and workers' compensation law payments in an illness involving both workplace and at-home asbestos exposure sources.

Expert Analysis

  • Opinion

    A Uniform Federal Rule Would Curb Gen AI Missteps In Court

    Author Photo

    To address the patchwork of courts’ standing orders on generative artificial intelligence, curbing abuses and relieving the burden on judges, the federal judiciary should consider amending its civil procedure rules to require litigants to certify they’ve reviewed legal filings for accuracy, say attorneys at Shook Hardy.

  • Investment Advisers Should Stay Apprised Of New AI Risks

    Author Photo

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recently issued annual examination priorities reiterate a host of regulatory implications for investment advisers using artificial intelligence tools, highlighting that meaningful ongoing due diligence can help mitigate both operational and regulatory surprises amid AI's rapid evolution, says Christopher Mills at Sidley.

  • New Rule Shows NRC Willing To Move Fast To Reform Regs

    Author Photo

    The Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s decision to forgo public comment and immediately rescind certain rules governing adjudicatory procedures, federal tort claims and disclosure of licensee information signals the agency's intent to accelerate the regulatory streamlining efforts ordered by the president this spring, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • AG Watch: Texas Junk Fee Deal Shows Enforcement Priorities

    Author Photo

    Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's recent $9.5 million settlement with online travel agency website Booking Holdings for so-called junk fee practices follows a larger trend of state attorneys general who have taken similar action and demonstrates the significant penalties that can follow such allegations, say attorneys at Kelley Drye.

  • 10th Circ. Dissent May Light Path For Master Account Access

    Author Photo

    While the Tenth Circuit's majority in Custodia Bank v. Federal Reserve Board recently affirmed Federal Reserve banks' control over master account access, the dissent raised constitutional questions that could support banks seeking master accounts in future litigation, say attorneys at Paul Hastings.

  • Calif. AG's No-Poach Case Reflects Tougher Antitrust Stance

    Author Photo

    This month, California’s attorney general resolved the latest enforcement action barring the use of no-poach agreements, underscoring an aggressive antitrust enforcement trend with significant increases in criminal and civil penalties, say attorneys at Pillsbury.

  • A Look At The Wave Of 2025 Email Marketing Suits In Wash.

    Author Photo

    Since the Washington Supreme Court's ruling in Brown v. Old Navy in April, more than 30 lawsuits have alleged that a broad range of retailers across industries sent emails that violate the Washington Commercial Electronic Mail Act, but retailers are unlikely to find clear answers yet, says Gonzalo Mon at Kelley Drye.

  • 3 Defense Strategies For Sporadically Prosecuted Conduct

    Author Photo

    Not to be confused with selective prosecutions, sporadic prosecutions — charging someone for conduct many others do without consequences — can be challenging to defend, but focusing on materiality, prosecutorial motivations and public opinion can be a winning strategy, says Jonathan Porter at Husch Blackwell.

  • 2025 Noncompete Developments That Led To Inflection Point

    Author Photo

    Employers must reshape their approaches to noncompete agreements following key 2025 developments, including Delaware's rejection of blue-penciling and the proliferation of state wage thresholds, say attorneys at Gunderson Dettmer.

  • Riding The Changing Winds For AI Innovations At The USPTO

    Author Photo

    As recent U.S. Patent and Trademark Office moves reshape how artificial intelligence inventions will be examined and put them on firmer eligibility footing, practitioners need to consider how this shift is both an opportunity and a challenge, say Ryan Phelan at Marshall Gerstein and attorney Mark Campagna.

  • Series

    The Law Firm Merger Diaries: Integrating Practice Groups

    Author Photo

    Enacting unified leadership and consistent client service standards ensures law firm practice groups connect and collaborate around shared goals, turning a law firm merger into a platform for growth rather than a period of disruption, says Brian Catlett at Fennemore Craig.

  • The Tricky Issues Underscoring Prediction Market Regulation

    Author Photo

    Prediction markets are not merely testing the boundaries of commodities law — they are challenging the conventional divisions between gambling regulation and financial market oversight, and in doing so, may reshape both, says Braeden Anderson at Gesmer Updegrove.

  • Nonprofits Face Uncertainty Over Political Activity Rules

    Author Photo

    Two federal court decisions suggesting that the Internal Revenue Service's rules for 501(c)(4) organizations' political activity may be too vague to survive constitutional scrutiny leave nonprofit organizations caught between constitutional limits on government regulation of speech and tax limits on their exempt status, say attorneys at BakerHostetler.

  • Opinion

    Supreme Court Term Limits Would Carry Hidden Risk

    Author Photo

    While proposals for limiting the terms of U.S. Supreme Court justices are popular, a steady stream of relatively young, highly marketable ex-justices with unique knowledge and influence entering the marketplace of law and politics could create new problems, say Michael Broyde at Emory University and Hayden Hall at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.

  • Navigating A Sea Change In Rent Algorithm Regulation

    Author Photo

    The U.S. Department of Justice's proposed settlement of the RealPage lawsuit represents a pivotal moment in the regulation of algorithmic rent-setting, restraining use of these tools amid a growing trend of regulatory limits on use of algorithmic data and methodologies in establishing housing rental prices. say attorneys at Wilson Elser.

Want to publish in Law360?


Submit an idea

Have a news tip?


Contact us here
Can't find the article you're looking for? Click here to search the Public Policy archive.